54MM Toy Soldiers – Page 18 – My Toy Soldiers & Me

A GENTLEMAN’S WAR WHAT IF SCENARIO: FASHODA (gone the wrong way) (I)

Maybe in 2025 you will see “FASHODA GONE WRONG” an Old Toy Soldiers & Old Wargame entertainment (SOLO). 54MM AGW affair using British and French Colonials (NO entente cordiale… LOL)… in fact I am pretty sure that this one would be my next wargame (Old School).

You see I do not like to “kill” natives or indigenous people in my wargames… I do not collect them as “cannon fodder” (Not even in 6mm mind!)… One thing is collecting miniatures (read Toy Soldiers) and the other is not being aware of the more grim aspects of colonialism (as if Persian, Greeks and Romans… to name a few were not “colonialist” or “conquerors”)… BUT here is not the place for discussing seriously the inhuman race.

Get a sight of the troops that would be involved on the pics below. All the affair would be precipitated by the French Commander in place… General Armand d´Hubry et Nemesis desire to win the Legion d’Honneur…

Finally finished Army (The armoured car is a secret weapon proptotype only used in the NWF)… same as the Indian Army Units (Guides&Gurkhas)… Bengal Lancers not going to FASHODA either. This pic shows the full Kakhi British Army in its proper cabinet next to the wargames table).

French Troops (99% by Dorset Soldiers and a REPLICA General!)

British and Allies (meaning Indian Raj Troops) by REPLICA and Dorset Soldiers.

Of course, after that incident and its consequences either Calais or Dover would be involved in a messy action… follow that here website for more!

Britains Little Army (soon to be reinforced) is awaiting the second battle as a consequence…

Cheers!

My very first Toy Soldiers… they are more than 70 years old… the rest was the “follow up”

In fact 70 years old and a bit… The state is original… those are the rests of the original paint… on anything not rigid (or even quite rigid) paint peels off I am afraid. Those three are all what remain of my big box of infancy…

My maternal grandfather used to play with me back then… that been the case it started a life long love for the “Mounties” only slightly superior to my obsession with the French Foreign Legion as a result of been exposed to BEAU GESTE (The book if you please)… and of course the Guards Regiments (Horse and Foot)… my parents always looked North from Spain… anglophiles but also liked France. My father even studied in Liverpool before the Spanish Civil War made a mess of a lot of things…

Lucky me I was born in 1952… so wars were a thing of the past… or in far away exotic places (Korea, Vietnam, Falklands,Iran, Irak, Afghanistan)… not in Europe anymore (well the Balkans)… and mainly USA wars (sometimes with staunch allies at his side)… the XXth Century was the USA Century to be sure…but we lived a long peace.

Enjoy,

RCMP REAMSA rubber/cautxuc soldiers of aprox 45mm scale

That lead me later to this of course… Collecting 54mm gloss toy soldiers come many years after… and they are DUCAL (99% of the set, Tradition of London 2 figures, 1 REPLICA -a cast that is now once painted my personal avatar- and 1 an iconic BRITAINS)… you need all sorts you know…

Detail of the last addition by myself (converting and painting)

Finally got one of the iconic Old Britains figures (well, maybe not so old… but iconic not the least)

54MM BRITAINS (New Centenial Series) Scots Grey’s set (bought 2 sets in ebay.co.uk)

It all started last winter… (2024)… I discovered a lot of sets of NEW Britains I did not knew about on ebay.co.uk! (not easy to buy them because a lot of ebay sellers do not send to ANDORRA!… only the really good businessmen among them (some of them real gentleman!… mind!).

Afterwards of a lot of madly buying (feeding frenzy when applied to sharks)… I decided to buy Norman Joplin’s book about those sets… the normal thing would have been the inverse procedure. A quick read showed me that I had not done so bad after all… BUT… introduced me to sets I did not know existed at all… as this present Scots Grey’s set (2 sets I bought from the same ebay seller!).

Well, in less then 24 hours after their arrived in ANDORRA… I have already converted a sergeant into a trumpeter… could not avoid the temptation…

Enjoy!

One of the segeants has been converted (quickly) into a trumpeter…

Only had to change the arm and paint the plume red…

The main reason behind buying those sets… magnificent sentry boxes!

54MM Toy Soldiers from REPLICA! arrival of a brand new parcel!

Not complaining at all because the order from 2023 arrived on 2025!… quality compensates in spades.

The “cottage” industry of Toy Soldiers has that… limited production… long queueing… but SATISFACTION!

The Toy Soldiers Britains never did… not in its heyday (classic times)… not in his centenary sets either… bespoke orders… simply fantastic output.

You can also buy from him… see replica metal model soldiers in google or email “HQ@replicametalsoldiers.co.uk” HQ@Replicametalsoldiers.co.uk and just wait to be satisfied… it helps if you are not in your seventies like me!

Enjoy.

And something completely different… an armoured car (Rolls&Royce) if you please… a model a bit late for my period… but I guess the fact that is a secret prototype can adapt well to my needs!

54MM Toy Soldiers NEW William BRITAINS (from the nineties) small conversions

Followers of this website must know I am now collecting sets of the BRITAINS CENTENIAL COLLECTOR SERIES (1993)… to use in AGW Old school wargames.

With the Infantry there is no issue as they come in sets of 6… so two sets makes a complete Unit and that’s it. On the contrary Cavalry Sets have 4 Cavalrymen… you buy two boxes and then you have two redundant figures (redundant is a term I do not use at all) to be converted in something else.

Bought two sets of the 4th Hussars and then one trumpeter and one sergeant were promptly repainted to represent another regiment of Hussars of SIMKIN times… they will be added to the General Staff (A General always needs a trumpeter and a flag!)… or whatever… had fun messing with them… still not gloss varnished mind… probably work a bit more with the flag too (in the pic it is not correct… mend it by now!)… and why not paint the trumpeter’s horse white? (done too!)

Enjoy!

“New” Standardbearer… the flag is wrong and has been repainted!

Finally painted the horse white.Original and Conversion.

Also painted the horses lancers in other colours… too many blacks as it is!

They still lack gloss varnish… but you get the idea…

54MM Toy Soldiers BRITAINS and REPLICA (and DORSET artillery) Victorian Army (SIMKIN TIMES)

Well, finally taking shape!

I expect some brigades of Infantry from Andrew Stevenson before the 30th of June of 2025.

They do mix very well indeed even if the design and finition of REPLICA is superior, a case of the disciple surpassing the master.

Will add pics of the Hussars once conversions finished.

Enjoy!

Royal Marine Artillery and Westminster Rifles (Territorials)

The Cavalry minus the Hussars (not finished).

Royal Artillery (DORSET SOLDIERS) and BRITAINS LINE INFANTRY in the background.

54MM Toy Soldiers NEW BRITAINS (modern… but more than 30 years old!) Centenial sets of the nineties

I am nowadays buying some of this sets to hurriedly complete some projects (British SIMKIN times Army and others…).

I can not wait for the more traditional way of collecting. Probably some of this units will be “embellished” with paintjobs in the near future… I can do that mind!

Just thought to mention that for me the only “toy soldier shop” available nowadays is ebay… and that’s that… nearly instant satisfaction… at nearly 73 years old is what I need in spades!

Enjoy!

Recent arrivals… the General is a Dorset figure…

British Hussars (two of them would be “converted”.

54MM Toy Soldiers from REPLICA… My new sets

The two sets of Victorian (SIMKIN TIMES) Cavalry

Forefront 6th Dragoon Guards (Carbineers) and 16th lancers in the rear rank. Pic “in process” by Andrew Stevenson.

Finally here! (meaning ANDORRA)

They are part of a larger order… but Cavalry always have an extra appeal to me.

In 2023 (by the last months) I placed an order with Andrew Stevenson (REPLICA METAL MODEL SOLDIERS)… this is part of it.

Intended to be a part of a little British Army to play AGW (Yes you’ve guessed right I will of course mess with the original rules!)

Never thought the vast amounts of patience needed nowadays to collect “la creme de la creme” (si j’ose dire)… days, weeks, months, more than a year sometimes… but well worth the wait.

The problem (main) is not the wait itself… it is my age LOL)… time is now an issue…

You can not “hurry up” Andrew… he is IMHO an “artist”… multiple interests…. multiple ranges…. multiple novelties…. multiple objectives… he also collects!…. whatever… Probably the best if you are affected by BRITAIN’s nostalgia… I have never indulged in collecting “antiques” if you think pre-WWII (or WWI for that matter) Toy Soldiers…. do not have the time… neither the money (or budget)… neither the interest (pure or purist). On the contrary I do collect NOW the Centennial sets by Britain! (You need all sorts you know…).

The use of REPLICA models in wargames is a bit of an heressy as I considere them “collector’s items” on their own right!. But boy do they bring “class” to your tabletop…

Enjoy the pics!

Cheers

TRADITION OF LONDON: Royal Canadian Mounted Police: Regimental Sergeant Major 54mm small conversion

Curiously enough this cast (unpainted) was one of the first minis I ever painted myself (as it was mean to be… red tunic & all… and there it is still in my collection). One day I noticed I did not have thought of buying from DUCAL a RSM… so… I bought from Tradition of London the kit again and have painted in a new version with pace stick (a bit of steel paper clip).

There you have it hope you like it.

There… it only lacks the gloss finish… will add when dry!

Gloss varnished… project finished!

54MM My DUCAL Collection…Some close ups

Was bored while they were doing repairs of the garage door… after all 30 years for a motor is enough… so they had to change it!… meanwhile I took some snapshots with my mobile phone to pass the time.

Here they are.

You’ve seen the cabinets many times before… but this is a new approach I guess…